The Institute in Basic Life Principles, (IBLP) the homeschooling
program used by the Duggar family, was accused of covering up sexual assault
against underage girls in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the
Washington Post reported.
The five plaintiffs, identified as Charis Barker, Rachel Frost, Rachel Lees,
Gretchen Wilkinson and one Jane Doe, are each seeking $50,000 in damages,
saying they were "at times minors" when they were subjected to the abuse and "inappropriate
touching" during their association with the group.

Josh Duggar has become a poster boy for
hypocrisy and cover-ups of the uber-Christian style. Now he has become a
shining example of the problems homeschooled children face: lack of
socialization may lead to sexual psychosis. The article Purity
Has Its Price outlined the cult-like atmosphere of IBLP and its users. Disgraced founder Bill
Gothard stressed CONTROL:

Gothard teaches that dating is morally dangerous and that courtship is the better alternative. Gothard
encourages parents to be involved in their children's courtship. The father,
especially, should be involved in his daughter's relationships. He should at the
very least have the right to say "no" when a man asks to marry his
daughter. Gothard also advocates conservative dress. [1] Gothard's teachings discourage dating
and rock music, including Christian rock. Gothard
teaches that women working outside the home are putting themselves under
another man's authority and conflict may arise. He has warned that some toys
such as Cabbage Patch dolls may cause destructive behavior
in children.

- Advertisement -

Anti-Socialization

While the number of children homeschooled using the IBLP program is not
available on its website,
the fact that it took in over $63 million in 2006, shows that it
touches in the tens of thousands.

About 1.35 million children in America are homeschooled. So, are 1.35 million
kids deprived of socialization? To a certain extent... yes. A majority of those
children are homeschooled because Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian parents
detest most forms of secularism, and they deems a strictly
"Christian" upbringing impossible in a secular world. Homeschooling
glorifies a narrow religious perspective and makes assimilation and
socialization very, very difficult.

Lana Hope was homeschooled and became a part of
the homeschool movement, only later to come to terms with the myth of
socialization:

- Advertisement -

We first generational homeschoolers have finally reached the age
where we recognize that we were duped. When I was 19, I thought I was well
socialized because I had been told that I was well socialized. Everytime
someone asked me, "well, what about socialization?" I had been trained to say, "oh,
we have plenty of social opportunities." I had no idea that yes, we had social
opportunities, and that I would still have social problems from lack of
interaction with public schoolers. When I grew up and had social problems, I
just blamed myself because, again, it never crossed my mind that I wasn't well
socialized. It took online bloggers and online community -- sharing stories
together -- before I realized that actually, I have socialization problems as a
result of my homeschool years.

Founder Bill Gothard's (IBLP) method of
authoritarianism and questionable Biblical standards certainly helped cause
Josh Duggar's problems, highlighting complete control over every aspect of a
child's life, continuing into adulthood. Such control can lead to a reactionary
(rebellious) psychosis.

Rev. Dan Vojir is has been writing/blogging on religion and politics for the better part of ten years. A former radio talk show host (Strictly Books " Talk America Radio Network) and book publisher, Dan has connected with some of the most (more...)